But Affleck seemed to take the lack of focus on him in stride, and worked pretty seamlessly with the cast to create an episode that, aside from Stefon’s surprising goodbye, and a sweet punk farewell from some departing cast members, will probably largely go forgotten. Thanks for being a good sport, Ben Affleck! You’re a trooper!

Oh, look, yet another political cold open that doesn’t really seem to know what to do with itself. Certainly there was more hay to be made out of the IRS scandal than just having Al Sharpton compare his hair to Frederick Douglass’s? Here’s the thing, Saturday Night Live: you don’t have to do a political sketch every week. I know the cable news networks want you to so that they have a clip they can play on their morning shows and kill a little time, but that’s not reason enough to do a political bit when you don’t have a solid idea. Maybe it’s time to leave the political ha-has to “Weekend Update” and The Daily Show/Colbert Report, unless you have a really, really great idea for a sketch. K? K.

OK, Ben Affleck, we get it. You feel bad about comparing your marriage to work in your Oscar acceptance speech. But that was months ago? And most people kinda forgot about it already? Or at the very least have gotten over it — if they ever cared in the first place? But sure, bring Jennifer Garner out to rehash it and pretend to squabble with you because that’s funny and so very timely.

Oh, we’re going to bring up the Oscar speech again in this bit where the entire punchline is “Gigli! That sure was a terrible movie!”
I really think you and Jennifer Garner need to get over it already. Maybe take these concerns to a marriage therapist instead of working it out on sketch comedy shows.

The “Xanax for Gay Weddings” commercial was the first bright spot of the evening . It did bring to mind Lonely Island’s recent song, “Spring Break Anthem,” which, you’ve been warned, contains salty language, but is hilarious — and probably would have been SNL’s digital sketch had Andy Samberg not left the show last year. And not to get too thinky about it, it does seem just in the past few years since I’ve been blogging SNL, the writers have grown more mature in how they handle homosexuality, finally moving away from crude homophobic frat boy jokes. Another sketch that aired last night that NBC did not include for embedding featured Ben Affleck as a counselor at a camp designed to turn gay teens straight, and while it dabbled in homosexual stereotypes, in the end, the point was that the very idea of trying to convert homosexuals into heterosexuals is inherently hilarious. In both of SNL’s sketches last night, the jokes were related to homosexuality, but not at the expense of homosexuals, which is noteworthy.

Ugh. This “Depression Scene.” Who’s idea was this? Did Bill Hader come up with it, and everyone was like, “You know what? Sure. It’s a terrible sketch, but it’s your last episode, go ahead.” Because this? This was terrible. Not merely bad, but terrible. Last sketch in a terrible episode terrible. Oof. I’m still sort of mad at how terrible this was especially when I think about how this time could have been spent with one last visit from Prince or Vincent Price or Herb Welch. ~shakes fist~

First of all, calm down, this is not Seth Meyers’ last “Weekend Update.” Reports are that he will return next fall and do at least half the season before he leaves to do Late Night. That out of the way, I’m including this week’s “Weekend Update,” because AMY POEHLER!!!!!

And then there was Stefon.

Everyone knew that Stefon would have to make a final appearance on “Weekend Update.” What no one knew was just how epic and hilarious and fitting and surprisingly moving Stefon’s goodbye would be.

Well done, Saturday Night Live. Sethon is now canon. SETHON 4EVA!!!!

And then back to the sketches. “Greg’s Funeral” was the first sketch of the night that really showcased Ben Affleck’s comedic talents — yes, he does have some — and it wasn’t bad. It wasn’t the best thing of the night, or even the best thing of the night that featured Ben Affleck (that’d be the gay camp bit that NBC won’t post), but it was serviceable.

This is the third iteration of the commercials featuring the former porn stars hawking luxury goods this season. And as much as I liked the bit last night, the beats are becoming a little predictable. (Mispronunciation here, Male porn star’s bad timing here, here and here, Cecily Strong’s outrageous comment here.) Cecily Strong and Vanessa Bayer are brilliant as always, but maybe it’s time to let this sketch rest for a little while before revisiting it next season.

Finally, Fred Armisen, Bill Hader and Jason Sudeikis (maybe) said goodbye to Saturday Night Live with a lovely little punk song with some assistance from Carrie Brownstein, Aimee Mann, Michael Penn, Kim Gordon, J. Mascis, and the Sex Pistols’ Steve Jones. It was sweet, it was heartfelt and it was genuine, and as fitting a goodbye as one could think of. We’ve had a lovely night with you, too, Fred and Bill and (maybe) Jason.

And I rarely include the musical performances, but true to his nature, Kanye West’s performances were so notable and controversial that they should be included:

One Response

The Stefon thing caught me by surprise, but it was perfect. I love how everyone’s recurring Weekend Update characters showed up to send him off. Oh, and kudos to Anderson Cooper for getting in on the act!